The New England Patriots are moving on in the NFL playoffs as their defense was dominant in a 16-3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild card round at Gillette Stadium.

The Patriots will face either the Pittsburgh Steelers or Houston Texans, who play on Monday.

Both teams were locked in a defensive battle throughout the game, and the Chargers never scored a touchdown. It was field goals only until there was 9:45 left in the fourth quarter.

That's when Patriots quarterback Drake Maye found veteran tight end Hunter Henry on a 28-yard strike, stretching New England's lead to 16-3.

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert used two scrambles to get his team into New England territory on the next drive. But K'Lavon Chaisson got to Herbert, forcing a fumble that teammate Christian Elliss recovered, giving the Patriots the ball back with 8:08 to play in the game.

With 1:34 left in the third quarter, rookie Patriots kicker Andy Borregales had pushed the score to 9-3 with his third field goal of the game. But the Patriots just missed a huge connection two plays earlier when Maye sailed a ball over the head of tight end Austin Hooper in the end zone.

Earlier in the third quarter with a 3-point lead, the Patriots had a chance to extend their lead as they moved into the red zone. But Odafe Oweh strip sacked New England quarterback Drake Maye, and the Chargers recovered.

Fortunately for the Patriots, their defense held and prevented any damage.

In the first half, a key decision early on led to the first points of the game. With his back to the end zone, a first quarter Maye pass was tipped and intercepted by Daiyan Henley at the New England 12-yard line.

The Chargers moved the ball to the two and went for it on fourth down, but Justin Herbert's pass hit the turf incomplete.

On their ensuing drive, the Patriots moved the ball to the Los Angeles 5-yard line, but stalled out there and settled for a 23-yard Borregales field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

When the Chargers got the ball back, they marched down the field until the New England defense stuffed a third down run at the 3-yard line. Cameron Dicker chipped in a 21-yard field goal to knot the score at 3-3.

Maye used his legs to help give New England the lead just before halftime. After forcing the Chargers to punt with 41 seconds left before intermission, Maye scrambled on second down to the Los Angeles 17-yard line.

Borregales banged home a 35-yard field to give the home team a 6-3 lead heading into halftime.

Going just 6 for 15 in the first two quarters, Maye was still able to make things happen in open two quarters with five runs for 55 yards.